We feel that that if the Babri Masjid had not been demolished and if the nuclear bomb had not been tested in 1998 then our country would not be facing the problem of terrorism today. The first bomb blast occurred in Mumbai in 1993 after the demolition of the mosque. After the nuclear test, the then BJP government adopted pro-America policies and in 2001, when America began the war against terrorism, India joined this US' war against terrorism without invitation. It was precisely at this time that we had the first 'terrorist' attack on the Indian Parliament. After this, there was a spate in terrorist activities in India , the latest being the recent daring attack in Mumbai. The communal politics of the country has fuelled hatred and violence. It has also endangered the sovereignty of our country. This communal politics is responsible for terrorist activities. It is not only the Pakistan fundamentalist Islamic organizations, but the Hindu fundamentalist organizations like Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh and others, who are to be blamed for this.
Now our country also faces the danger of Taliban, which is slowly devouring Pakistan . We must learn from Pakistan the devastating effects of supporting fundamentalism. We strongly feel that unless the elected government of Pakistan become strong enough to control its army, intelligence agency and terrorist outfits, the fear of terrorism will loom across our borders.There should be a complete ban on Hindu fundamentalist outfits from taking part in politics. Any organization based on the narrow ideology of hatred for other communities, should have no place in democracy. The youth of our country should become a vehicle for creating a just and peaceful society, where no religion or caste dominates others.
We welcome the decision of the Congress Party for not giving the party’s ticket to Jagdish Tyler and Sajjan Kumar and expect similar actions from the BJP.
- Asgar Ali Engineer, SR Darapuri and Dr Sandeep Pandey
Asgar Ali Engineer is a Right Livelihood Awardee (2004), noted Islamic Scholar and had faced physical attacks from muslim fundamentalist groups on his stand against fundamentalism
SR Darapuri, is an IPS officer and retired Inspector General (IG) Police, and Lok Rajniti Manch (People's Politics Front) candidate from Lucknow parliamentary constituency this year
Dr Sandeep Pandey, is a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (2002), member National Presidium, Lok Rajniti Manch, leads the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) in India